HORDEI SEMINA. L.E.D.
(Hordeum Distichon. Semina, tunicis nudata.)
Hordeum Perlatum. Pearl Barley.
Barley is formed into Pearl Barley, by the removal of its husk or cuticle,[[519]] and afterwards by being rounded and polished in a mill. These well known granules consist chiefly of fecula, with portions of mucilage, gluten, and sugar, which water extracts by decoction, but the solution soon passes into the acetous fermentation; the bran of barley contains an acrid resin, and it is to get rid of such an ingredient that it is deprived of its cuticle. Officinal Preparations. Decoct. Hordei. L.E.D. Decoct. Hordei. comp. L.D.
HUMULI STROBILI. L.E.
(Humulus Lupulus. Stroboli Siccati.)
Qualities. Odour, fragrant, and sub-narcotic. Taste, bitter, astringent, and aromatic. Chemical Composition. Tannin, 5 grs.; Extractive, 10 grs.; Bitter principle, 11 grs.; Wax, 12 grs.; Resin, 36 grs.; Lignin, 46 grs. The fact, with respect to the residence of the properties of the hop in the yellow grains scattered over its scales, has been since confirmed by the observations of M. Payen and A. Chevalier, who have moreover detected a volatile oil in the Lupulin, amounting to 2 per cent.; its proportion, however, appears to vary in the Hop of different countries; the French hop, for instance, has been found to contain more than the Belgic, but less than the English; Hops, moreover, soon after having been picked, yield, cæteris paribus, more oil and less resin than the old; a circumstance which induced M. M. Payen and Chevalier to suspect that the oil is capable of being resinified. (Journal de Pharmacie, Juin 1822.) This oil is similar in odour to the hop, but much more penetrating, narcotic, and very acrid in the throat.
Solubility. Boiling water, alcohol, and æther, extract their virtues; but their aromatic flavour is destroyed by decoction; like most vegetable bitters, the cold is more grateful than the warm infusion; its colour is deepened by alkalies, and rendered turbid by the mineral acids; metallic salts also produce decomposition. Medicinal Uses. Hops have been said to be tonic, narcotic, and diuretic; they have been recommended in the cure of rheumatism; and, like many articles in the materia medica which have received the sanction of respectable practitioners, they have been extolled far beyond their merit. They undoubtedly possess the advantages of a pleasant bitter combined with a feeble narcotic; the late Mr. Freake was very sanguine as to their powers, and at his request I made a series of experiments at the Westminster Hospital, but I confess that their results have not established my confidence in their efficacy. Officinal Preparations. Extract. Humili. L. Tinct. Humili. L. Their use as a preservative of beer is well known, and the philosophy of their agency is fully described in the first part of this work, (page 168); it is equally notorious, that various vegetable substances are daily substituted for them, such as Quassia[[520]] and Wormwood, both of which are inferior to the Menyanthes Trifoliata, or Marsh Trefoil. The people of Jersey are said to use the wood-sage, Teucrium Scorodonia; it imparts however a very high colour to the beer. During the first four years that the Cape of Good Hope was in the possession of the British, more than 300,000 pounds of Aloes were imported into England; how could such a quantity be consumed? except, as Mr. Barrow states, by the London Porter brewers; it must however be allowed that a considerable quantity of this article is used by the Varnish makers.
HYDRARGYRUM.[[521]] L.D. Hydrarcyrus. E.
Olim, Argentum vivum. Mercury, or Quicksilver.